NY Times misled on disclosure of Bill Clinton's speaking fees

Written by Sarah Pavlus & Lauren Auerbach

Published

The New York Times reported that in considering whether to nominate Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, "[t]he Obama transition team is focused on the wide array of Mr. Clinton's postpresidential activities, some details of which have not been made public. This list includes the identity of most of the donors to his foundation, the source of some of his speaking fees -- he has earned as much as $425,000 for a one-hour speech." But the Times did not note that the source and amount of all of Bill Clinton's speaking fees of $200 or more are disclosed annually in Hillary Clinton's Senate disclosure forms.

In a November 17 New York Times article, Don Van Natta Jr. and Jo Becker reported that in considering whether to nominate Sen. Hillary Clinton as secretary of state, "[t]he Obama transition team is focused on the wide array of Mr. Clinton's postpresidential activities, some details of which have not been made public. This list includes the identity of most of the donors to his foundation, the source of some of his speaking fees -- he has earned as much as $425,000 for a one-hour speech -- and his work for the billionaire investor Ronald W. Burkle." But Van Natta and Becker did not note that the source and amount of Bill Clinton's speaking fees are disclosed annually in Hillary Clinton's Senate disclosure forms -- including a $425,000 speech he delivered on August 14, 2007, for AEG London, which was listed in Hillary Clinton's 2008 Senate disclosure form.

Though Van Natta and Becker reported that "[s]everal Democrats close to the Clintons said the former president's activities should not be a disqualifier because the couple had been more open about their finances than past veterans of the White House, thanks to Senate disclosure requirements," they did not make clear that Bill Clinton is required to disclose all speaking fees of $200 or more, according to the disclosure form. Should Hillary Clinton remain in the Senate, Bill Clinton's 2008 speaking fees would be included in her 2009 Senate disclosure forms. Should Hillary Clinton become secretary of state, executive branch financial disclosure rules would require her, just as the Senate does, to disclose speaking fees earned by Bill Clinton of $200 or more.

The Times has previously noted that Bill Clinton's speaking fees are disclosed in Hillary Clinton's disclosure forms. A June 15, 2006, article reported: “Former President Bill Clinton and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton had income of more than $8 million last year, mainly from speaking fees Mr. Clinton collected, according to disclosure forms released by the senator's office yesterday.” The article also reported: “In the senator's disclosure on Tuesday, she and her husband reported having a joint bank account worth $5 million to $25 million, as well as a blind trust worth $5 million to $25 million. ... One major source of income was the speaking fees Mr. Clinton collected. The statement showed that he earned more than $7.5 million for 43 speeches that he gave to groups as varied as the Goldman Sachs Group, the Lancaster, Pa., Chamber of Commerce, the Young Presidents' Organization and Leading Minds in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.”

From Van Natta and Becker's November 17 article:

The Obama transition team is focused on the wide array of Mr. Clinton's postpresidential activities, some details of which have not been made public. This list includes the identity of most of the donors to his foundation, the source of some of his speaking fees -- he has earned as much as $425,000 for a one-hour speech -- and his work for the billionaire investor Ronald W. Burkle.

[...]

Several Democrats close to the Clintons said the former president's activities should not be a disqualifier because the couple had been more open about their finances than past veterans of the White House, thanks to Senate disclosure requirements.

“They are arguably the most transparent former first couple in history,” said one Democratic official, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential. “For eight years, they've been doing this.”

Lanny J. Davis, a longtime Clinton friend who said he was not speaking on the couple's behalf, said he “completely rejects 100 percent” any suggestion that there was a conflict between Mr. Clinton's work raising money for his foundation and the work Mrs. Clinton would be doing as the nation's chief diplomat.

When the Clintons released their postpresidency tax returns in April, the documents showed the couple had earned $109 million after leaving the White House in January 2001. Most of it has come from book-writing and speaking fees, a sum that accounts for nearly $92 million, including a $15 million advance from Mr. Clinton's best-selling autobiography, “My Life.”